Early the next morning, Tike woke up in the room of Grandma Hilda, the dorm mother of the Fairy Tail girls' dormitory.
Last night's "Hotpot War" was too intense, accidentally blowing up the entire dormitory. To avoid sleeping on the streets, the children had to find their own places to stay.
Being the youngest among them, Tike naturally received special care and was arranged to stay temporarily in the girls' dormitory.
Originally, Millianna wanted him to come to the room she shared with Kagura, intending to continue nuzzling Alice, but Grandma Hilda stopped her and brought Tike to her own room.
Tike didn't interact much with Grandma Hilda usually, but he didn't dislike the scent on her, so he stayed here obediently and passed a peaceful night.
"Meow~ Morning~"
With a soft cat meow, Alice stretched in Tike's arms and slowly opened her sleepy eyes.
Tike rubbed her little ears, preparing to use teleportation magic to go to Porlyusica's house for free food.
Just then, the room door was gently pushed open, and Ur's figure appeared at the doorway.
Seeing her, Tike threw himself directly into her arms, nuzzling her cheek affectionately.
Ur had been out on a mission these past few days and only rushed back to the guild this morning.
As soon as she entered, she learned from Grandma Hilda that Tike had stayed overnight in the girls' dormitory, so she immediately came over to see him.
"Heard you little rascals 'dismantled' the boys' dormitory again last night?" Ur tapped Tike's forehead lightly. "The Master is probably going to have a headache again."
"I held back my strength," Tike lowered his head guiltily, defending himself in a low voice.
In fact, he was the one who dismantled the house most enthusiastically last night.
Those were the fish Alice had worked so hard to catch!
To eat a few more bites, he had used all his skills and fought "three hundred rounds" with everyone!
Looking at his guilty little appearance, Ur shook her head helplessly.
She took Tike's small hand and led him and Alice to her room. Then she bent down and planted a gentle kiss on Tike's forehead.
"Wait here obediently; I'll go prepare breakfast for you."
"Mm!"
Tike responded obediently. After watching Ur leave the room, his gaze slowly moved and landed on Ur's bed.
Lucia was lying there sprawled out, a trace of crystal saliva hanging from the corner of her mouth, obviously immersed in some sweet dream.
While Blake stayed with Big Sis Ultear to work for her, Lucia joined Fairy Tail and even lived in the same room as Ur.
(I can't even live with Mom Ur; why can this guy do it?)
The more Tike thought about it, the angrier he got. He couldn't help puffing out his cheeks, glaring discontentedly at the sleeping Lucia.
(Prank her!)
Tike put down Alice, tiptoed to the bedside, then extended his "sinful" little hand and gently tickled the soles of Lucia's feet.
Although Lucia now had a wooden puppet body, the disguise magic Tike applied to her was extremely ingenious; realizing this level of nerve conduction was a piece of cake.
"Mmm... hmm..."
Woken up by this sudden ticklish sensation, Lucia retracted her feet, rubbed her sleepy eyes, and looked displeasedly at the initiator—Tike.
"What are you doing..." The girl pouted and complained, "Disturbing a beautiful girl's rest; you're really awful."
"Beautiful girl?"
Tike smirked and changed the disguise magic applied to Lucia. The originally lovely and charming beautiful girl instantly turned into an indescribably bizarre object.
Not only that, but Tike "thoughtfully" pulled a mirror from the side so she could "admire" her current "visage."
Looking at the monster in the mirror, Lucia was dumbfounded at first, then let out a terrified scream.
"Waaah—! You bad guy! Change me back quickly!"
"Bad guy?" Tike raised his eyebrows. "Compared to what your 'Grimoire Heart' did, I'm simply a pure, kind, and good person."
"I don't care! I don't care! Change me back quickly!"
Lucia didn't care about that. She started wailing loudly, the commotion loud enough for the entire dormitory building to hear.
"So noisy." Tike picked his ear. "Cry again and I'll make you stay like this forever. Then you'll live with this face for the rest of your life."
"Mmph!"
Lucia silenced instantly.
She was truly afraid Tike would do as he said and make her stay in this inhuman appearance forever!
Thinking of this, Lucia felt a burst of despair. She could only bite her lip aggrievedly, looking at Tike with teary eyes, pitiful like an abandoned kitten.
(Hmph, playing the victim again.)
Tike sneered at Lucia's clumsy acting. He signaled Alice to raise her claw-camera and "click," froze her current appearance in a photo, before happily canceling the magic.
Just as he finished all this, Ur walked in carrying a steaming breakfast. She placed the breakfast on the table, looked at her adopted son somewhat helplessly, and scolded softly, "Tike, why do you always like to bully Lucia? Can't you two get along properly?"
Hearing Ur speak for her, Lucia felt like she found a backer. She jumped off the bed quickly, threw herself into Ur's arms, buried her head in her chest, and sobbed aggrievedly.
"Boohoo... He... he..."
"When did I bully her? We were just playing. Lucia, isn't that right?" Tike defended himself righteously.
Lucia's body stiffened slightly. She squeezed out a smile uglier than crying and nodded against her will.
"Mm... yes, Big Sis Ur, we were just playing..."
(Wait a minute, why do I feel like you're taking advantage of me?)
Tike suddenly felt something was wrong, but his attention was quickly attracted entirely by the aroma of the food.
"Smells so good!"
He immediately threw his previous doubts to the back of his mind, pouncing on the delicacies on the table with glowing eyes, beginning to enjoy the hearty breakfast Ur meticulously prepared.
Lucia also sat at the table, eating breakfast in small bites.
Tike had endowed Lucia's wooden puppet body with a digestive system similar to Alice's, allowing her to obtain energy necessary for physical activity through eating like a normal person, saving the trouble of replenishing magic power for her every day.
After breakfast, Ur stopped Tike, who was preparing to go to Porlyusica's house.
"Come back earlier today. With the reward from this mission, it's enough for us to take that house we've been eyeing. Come with me to browse the furniture store this afternoon. If everything goes smoothly, we can move into our new home tomorrow."
"Yay!"
This was absolutely the thing Tike looked forward to the most this month!
Being able to live with Mom Ur and Big Sis Ultear again, sleeping on the same floor... just thinking about it made him feel incredibly happy.
(However...)
Tike's heart moved slightly, and he involuntarily glanced at Lucia sitting beside him.
"This guy shouldn't be living with us, right?"
Ur smiled gently.
"That depends on Lucia's own wishes. If she wants to, of course she can live with us."
Ignoring Tike's murderous look, Lucia said loudly without hesitation, "I want to live with Big Sis Ur!"
(This guy full of lies is actually serious about this matter.)
Sniffing the scent in the air, Tike felt Lucia's sincerity.
(She also wants a mother...)
Tike didn't say any more words of objection. After greeting Ur, he picked up Alice, turned around, and walked toward the door.
Lucia was actually very similar to him in some aspects.
Like him, she longed for familial love, warmth, and a shoulder to rely on.
She also knew how to use others' sympathy and how to get what she wanted by playing pitiful.
Tike didn't dislike this point; even if it were someone else, he would help if he could.
As for Lucia, it could only be said that he still didn't like her.
Because she had hurt Alice.
Just this one point doomed Tike to not having good feelings toward her, only thinking about finding amusement by pranking her.
(Should I turn her into a spider monster next time?)
Thinking of this, Tike raised the corners of his mouth with slight expectation.